Friday, 28 October 2011

It's Not Her Baby!

It's been a BUSY week and yesterday Grub was CRANKY! It got to about 9.30 last night and I thought "I've just gotta get some sleep" and then I thought of all of the things I DIDN'T get done during the day.

I didn't have any paper or a pen on me so I asked the Geek to email me with a list of the things I had to do today.

When I complained that there was too much to get done the Geek commented that Chicken would be home as it is a public holiday and she could look after the baby.

I originally dubbed her Chicken, not because she is a scaredy cat (though she is a little bit), but because she is a real mother hen. She loves her baby brother...and in fact all babies, and often plays with him and entertains him because she chooses too.

So should we take advantage of that? Should we take it for granted that she will want to spend her public holiday looking after Grub?

I don't think so. She is 8 years old and it's not her baby! We were the ones who chose to have another baby and we were the ones who chose to start a business. These were our choices...not hers.

That's not to say she should NEVER have to help out. I believe that being part of a family is a wonderful thing but it does come with responsibility. Being part of a LARGE family means that there is always someone to play with and it means that your life is just CHOCK FULL of amazing people who love you, there is always someone to go to if you have a problem. But it means EVERYBODY has to pitch in!

And that's a good thing. Kids need to learn that everything is not going to be given to them on a plate, and that living with other people requires sacrifice.

But I don't think we should take our kids for granted just because they have learned a sense of responsibility.

As it turns out, the 10 year old girl next door (also a mother hen) came over and absconded with Grub for a while so that we could get some cleaning done...and Geek helped out too so we are half way through the days task (at a little after 10am) but my point still stands. I think we need to be aware of the line between teaching our kids responsibility and using them...and it's a very fine line!